The triumph and tragedy of Nigella Email a friend CELEBRITY chef Nigella Lawson's life began in affluent surroundings in London. She was the daughter of Nigel Lawson, a senior politician in Margaret Thatcher's government, and Vanessa Lawson, who was an heiress to the Lyons Corner House food and hospitality empire. Nigella with her father, mother and sister. Picture: REX.Source:Supplied She was a shy, intelligent child who struggled with schooling. "I was just difficult, disruptive, good at school work, but rude, I suspect, and too highly-strung," she said. She finally secured a place at Oxford University where she studied Medieval and Modern Languages. She became the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times in 1986. Nigella Lawson in 2003.Source:Supplied She was unlucky in love throughout her life. The first instance being in 1988 when her boyfriend, Geoffrey Robertson QC, left her for Aussie author of Puberty Blues, Kathy Lette. Lette was quoted as spitefully saying: "There's so much pressure to rush home and prepare a dinner party.

My preferred recipe is to roast a domestic goddess, slowly, on a spit." Geoffrey Robertson QC left Nigella for author Kathy Lette.Source:News Limited Nigella then met John Diamond, who became her husband in 1992. The couple had two children. Nigella Lawson and John Diamond with their two children.Source:AAP In a devastating blow after her mother's death from liver cancer at 48, Diamond was diagnosed with throat cancer. It was just five years into their marriage. Tragically, in 1993 she also lost her sister to breast cancer, and Diamond followed in 2001 after a four year battle. Nigella with her first husband, columnist and author John Diamond a year before his death.Source:AAP Diamond was considered a major player in the career of Nigella. He encouraged his wife to write and shaped her image makeover - helping turn her into the sensuous culinary goddess she's known as today. She released her first book in 1998, the bestseller titled How to Eat. Kitchen goddess Nigella Lawson in her prime.Source:AAP In 2000, Nigella's career was at its peak.

She released How to be a Domestic Goddess to mass acclaim. Diamond passed away in 2001 as she was in the middle of her next success, the filming of the cooking show Nigella Bites. She took a two-week break. "I took a fortnight off. I'm not a great believer in breaks," she said at the time. Nigella Lawson in the 2001 TV show "Nigella Bi...Source:News Limited One of the last things Diamond said to Nigella was: "How proud I am of you and what you have become. The great thing about us is that we have made us who we are." John Diamond just months before his death.Source:News Limited As her fame continued to rise, she became known as the chef who brought the heat to the kitchen, with her vuluptuous size-16 frame and beautiful face. Nigella was voted as one of People's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2002. Nigella making a spaghetti.Source:Supplied "I love food and I love cooking so therefore I never deprive myself. Thinness is fantastic for clothes, but I don't do fashion," she said about her figure.

Nigella Lawson shows off her famous curves.Source:AAP Nine months after the death of her first husband, Diamond, she controversially moved in with art collector Charles Saatchi. He had divorced his second wife two years earlier. Nigella and Saatchi married in 2003. Nigella and Saatchi in happier times.Source:Splash News Australia Saatchi was never interested in her cooking like her late husband Diamond was. "I'm sure it's fantastic, but a bit wasted on me. I like toast with Dairylea, followed by Weetabix for supper. It drives Nigella to distraction, frankly... But the children love her cooking, and our friends seem to look forward to it," he said. Nigella's second husband Charles...Source:AAP In what the photographer called '27 minutes of madness', the truth about her turmultuous relationship with Saatchi started to seep out in June this year. Saatchi was photographed grabbing Nigella's throat at her favourite Mayfair restaurant, Scott's. Sunday People front page of Nigella Lawson being grabbed by the throat by husband Charles Saatchi.

Photo: Jean Paul/The Peopl...Source:News Limited — SDM Pic Desk (@SDMPicDesk) June 17, 2013 He called it a "playful tiff" but then announced via the media he would be divorcing Nigella after ten years of marriage. He said she didn't stand up for him after the incident and he had "clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so". Nigella during the court proceedings.Source:AAP Nigella made no public comment after the shocking incident that made international headlines, but court documents show she was the one who actually filed for divorce. She cited unreasonable behaviour. They settled out of court. Nigella is accused of being a drug addict.Source:Getty Images Now, details of the volatile relationship between the couple and the infamous neck 'throttle' are beginning to emerge. Both Nigella and Saatchi are giving evidence at the trial of two former assistants accused of fraud. The Italian-born sisters are said to have spent more than $1.3 million, using credit cards given to them by the couple.

Saatchi says he was trying to make Nigella 'focus' on him, not ...Source:AAP In court, Nigella described Saatchi as "brilliant but brutal" and admitted a history of drug use - which she attributed to hard times in her life. She denied she was a drug addict but said she had taken cocaine seven times in her life. Once with Saatchi when she felt she was the victim of "acts of intimate terrorism" due to his emotional abuse, and six times with Diamond after his cancer diagnosis. Shocking details of the volatile have emerged.Source:Getty Images In 2010, Nigella said of their fiery relationship: "I'll go quiet when he explodes, and then I am a nest of horrible festeringness." Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi during seemingly happier times. Picture: Milan MarkSource:News Limited She said contrary to reports, there had not been an argument about drug use when Saatchi grabbed her neck, but instead a customer had walked past with a baby in a stroller.

Nigella recounted: "I said 'I'm so looking forward to having grandchildren.' "He grabbed me by the throat and said 'I'm the only person you should be concerned with, I am the only person that should give you pleasure,'" a court heard. Nigella Lawson accused of being 'off her head on drugs'. ...Source:Splash News Australia During the court proceedings, Nigella denied claims by the Italian sisters that the infamous assault was when Saatchi discovered she had authorised the women to spend the $1.3 million. It was claimed she had done so as she was scared of her husband or due to her cocaine abuse. Italian sisters Francesca, left, and Elisabetta Grillo, right, accused of committing fraud.Source:AP Nigella said she had endured a long summer of bullying and abuse at the hands of her husband, after the incident, who she said was out to "destroy" her and her credibility. Nigella in 2010.Source:AAP The turbulent times of the woman once dubbed "the queen of food porn", continue to intrigue the world. Will Nigella rise from her place of despair to once again dominate the kitchen? Only time will tell.

Charles Saatchi accuses ex-wife Nigella Lawson of cheating on her dying husband - Mirror Online TV Charles Saatchi accuses ex-wife Nigella Lawson of cheating on her dying husband The art tycoon released a statement declaring TV chef Nigella betrayed John Diamond by starting an affair with Saatchi six months before John died of cancer Share Love: Nigella Lawson and John Diamond three months before his death (Photo: The Picture Library) Share Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Bitter Charles Saatchi was last night accused of masterminding a relentless campaign against Nigella Lawson – with outrageous claims she cheated on her dying first husband. In his most hurtful outburst yet, the art tycoon released a statement declaring Nigella betrayed John Diamond by starting an affair with Saatchi six months before John died of cancer. His extraordinary comment also insinuated the TV chef lied in court last month – and Saatchi, 70, went on to make further damaging allegations about her drug-taking.

His claims were met with fury from Team Nigella, who say John in fact gave his BLESSING to a friendship between Nigella and Saatchi ­before he died aged 47. But the TV star’s friends say the ­false allegation that the relationship was sexual before John’s death is a ­wicked attempt to smear her. Nigella, 54, believes Saatchi is ­orchestrating “a relentless pursuit” against her in revenge for her failure to support him after the Sunday People published pictures of him with a hand squeezing her neck in public. A source close to the Domestic Goddess, who is starring in new Channel 4 show The Taste, said: “What Charles is claiming now could not be more hurtful to Nigella. “She feels like she’ll never be able to escape his dark shadow. “Nigella loved her first ­husband John and would have never betrayed him. This is a low blow.

“People must remember that it was Nigella who was assaulted in public, not Charles.” Tycoon: Charles Saatchi arrives to give evidence at Isleworth Crown Court (Photo: AFP) Saatchi’s angry statement this weekend came as Nigella was on a birthday break in Spain, tweeting from the beach the words “muy contenta” – Spanish for “very happy”. She was blissfully ­unaware her ex-husband was delivering new vitriol aimed at wiping the smile off her face. Former advertising ­tycoon Saatchi said: “Nigella and I began our relationship during the last six months of her ­husband John Diamond’s life, rather than after his death as she (Nigella) stated in court. “Looking back at that time, I very ­deeply regret that this betrayal of John occurred.” His “confession” contradicts Nigella, who in court last month testified that they got together after ­journalist John – the father of her two ­children Cosima, 20, and Bruno, 17 – died in 2001.

But a friend of John told the Sunday People that far from betraying him, Nigella acted all along with his support and blessing as he fought a losing battle with throat cancer. The pal said: “John himself sanctioned the ­relationship when he knew he was going to die. “He was very keen on his young children having a ­father figure so actively encouraged Nigella to date Saatchi. Outburst: Charles Saatchi has been accused of launching a smear campaign against Nigella (Photo: Getty) “When John became really ill and they knew it was all going to end, Nigella and Saatchi would go out together a lot. "When he knew he didn’t have long left, he gave his tacit approval to Saatchi. "His kids were little and he would rather they had a father figure than none.” John introduced Nigella to Saatchi after they met while playing Scrabble and ­gambling games in a room above a restaurant in Knightsbridge, West London. The two men would ­regularly meet there and spend hours chatting while they played. They became close friends and eventually John took Saatchi to his home where he met Nigella.

At the time the advertising guru was still married to second wife Kay, the mother of his daughter Phoebe, 19. As the months went on and John’s condition deteriorated, Saatchi would regularly visit him at the house and the three of them all became friends. Saatchi was on the verge of divorce with advertising executive Kay. But Nigella’s friends utterly reject his claim that his relationship with the TV chef was sexual before John’s death. One said: “Saatchi has been doing his worst for months to damage Nigella because he can’t bear it that she walked out on him. “Nobody walks out on Saatchi, do they? Why can’t he just get on with his life and let her get on with hers?” Saatchi accepted a police caution for assault last June after the Sunday People published pictures of him grabbing her throat outside Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair, London. It led to their quickie divorce and then dramatic individual court testimonies. Their relationship became the focus of the fraud trial of their former housemaids Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo.

The sisters were cleared of the ­accusation that they fraudulently used Charles and Nigella’s company credit card to spend £685,000. But Nigella was left humiliated after being forced to admit taking cocaine six times and smoking ­cannabis in front of her children. The Grillos claimed she let them spend on the card in return for ­silence over the drugs. Amazingly, Saatchi has made ­further claims about her taking drugs – vehemently denied by her side – that contradict what he told the jury at Isleworth Crown Court, West London. On November 29 he testified: “I have never, never seen any evidence of Nigella taking any drugs whatsoever. “I want to be helpful, but I genuinely have no knowledge at all.” In response to one question he said: “Are you asking me whether I think Nigella was truly off her head? "Not for a second.” Now he says: “The truth is that she was taking illegal drugs secretly throughout the last years of our marriage, often with her own child (Cosima) when she was far too young to even smoke or drink. “Drug taking took place at an alarmingly frequent rate.

"That this practice seems to be considered acceptable behaviour in sections of the Press is deeply disturbing, as is the ­notion that you can teach your children that drugs are a justifiable way to make an unbearable situation bearable.” This was a barbed reference to Nigella’s admission in court that she had used cannabis to “deal with a summer of abuse” at the hands of Saatchi. On Good Morning America 10 days ago, she spoke frankly of her anger at being vilified on the witness stand, ­saying: “It is one of the niceties of the English legal system that you are not allowed counsel if you are a witness. "Maybe it will change. Maybe that’s good.” Nigella added: “Not only your private life but distortions of your private life put on display is mortifying.” Like us on Facebook John Diamond, a most treasured friend | Victoria Coren Mitchell | Opinion | The Guardian John Diamond, a most treasured friend Nigella Lawson's first husband was a brilliant man who adored her and who led me astray… Nigella Lawson with her first husband, columnist and author John Diamond.

Photograph: Michael Crabtree/PA Photos Sunday 8 December 2013 01.03 EST First published on Sunday 8 December 2013 01.03 EST Share on Messenger Close Amid the sea of Nigella coverage, beneath the giant photos of her walking gracefully into court with her head held high, and the flashback shots of Saatchi with his hand round her throat, there was a small, drop-in picture that made me smile like you wouldn't believe. Ah, there he is: John Diamond. The invisible third player in the drama. The "tragic first husband". I'd guess from the polo-neck that this photo was taken after his tracheotomy. I can see from his low body weight that it's after he lost his tongue, after the tube-feeding, after he started communicating with strangers by notebook and pen. (I could still understand his speech pretty well, because we spoke often; Nigella understood him perfectly; and his Mini-Me toddler children, with the fluency of all small people, had no problem at all.) So: that picture is deep into the throat cancer, after his body has been ruined; after the doctors have bit by bit taken hope away.

And yet, look at him. Shining like his name, twinkling with confidence and mischief, got up in a dandy purple suit to fit his reduced frame. You can't see his feet, but I'll bet you £100 they were shod in something buckled and snaky. Nigella is next to him. She is the Domestic Goddess; she's the one with film-star looks and growing film-star legend; she is the healthy one who's going to survive. But he looks like the one in control. She is shy and camera-nervous on the arm of her passionate, brilliant, adoring and challenging husband. He didn't always make her life easier, but he was so proud, so protective, and so profoundly in love with her. Having collaborated with John Diamond and the writer-performer Robert Katz on a play about his life and work, I'm the closest thing John had to a sort of biographer; I wanted to write about him, this week, for those who did not recognise the name "John Diamond" when it came up in the coverage.

When people read, last Thursday, about a terminally ill man acquiring cocaine for "some escape", they might have imagined something rather lame and desperate, weak and hopeful. John mustn't be remembered like that. He roared in the face of his diagnosis. He got tattoos. He went gambling in the afternoons. He bought a Harley Davidson. He tried various drugs, prescription and otherwise. He decanted glasses of champagne into his feeding tube. He out-risked risk itself. As Marvell wrote: "Thus, though we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run." I've never seen Nigella take drugs. In 15 years, I've only once seen her slightly drunk. It's hard to think of anyone I know for whom the expression "off her head" is less appropriate, except, perhaps, my mother-in-law. But I'm not surprised to hear she tried coke when John was around. Me too. The only time I've ever tried cocaine – which is also the only time I've ever seen cocaine – was under Diamond's terrible, twinkling influence. John was amused that a purported "media figure" such as myself had never sampled or seen this apparently ubiquitous social wheel-oiler.

He was also tickled that an all-night gambler like me was so square and nervous about drugs. One day – and it really was during the day, at some lunchtime party – he insisted I try it. He was in a place beyond rules, the Twelfth Night that can follow a death sentence, and he enjoyed being the emperor of an upside-down world. Nigella wasn't there. She came to the casino with us once or twice; I think her approach was to join in just enough to experience that side of John's terminal life, while keeping the home fire burning and maintaining structure for their adored children – who have, by the way, grown up beautiful, sweet, clever and capable. Don't worry about any emails you might have read; we should all raise such terrific kids. "I'm not snorting it," I said. (Like most geeks, I suffer a fabulous range of breathing disorders.) "Rub it on your gums!" shrieked John, gleefully. What are you going to do? This was a beloved, dying friend. Decadence was his cushion. He was facing something enormous and terrifying, that he could only face alone.

But if he invited you to join him in the decadence, how could you say no? Maybe he'd feel less lonely for a moment. If I felt like that – and most of his friends felt like that – how on earth must his wife have felt? He knew it too, the cheeky sod. When I'd done too much money in the casino and decided to stop, he'd twinkle: "Put it all on number 26… it's my last wish…" When I told him I would never ride a motorbike, he insisted immediately that I hop on the back of his. I am not a weak-willed person. But somehow, there I ended up, on the back, clinging to him for dear life, yelling: "Go slowly! Go slowly!" So, I rubbed some of this powder on my gums. After a bit, my mouth went numb. There was nothing exciting about it. It was just like going to the dentist. John was disappointed, I was relieved, and that was the end of that. When you try to picture the "tragic first husband", do not picture a dying man. Picture the most living man there ever was. Read his book, if you can.

He was funny, angry, rebellious, ingenious, ambitious and unforgettable. Twelve years after his death, he's still more alive than half the people I know. Throughout all this nonsense, I have felt him kicking furiously – and I hope his family has too. I hope his children know him; he could not have loved them more. He was always, and always will be, #TeamNigella. Nigella Lawson - Biography - IMDb Nigella Lawson Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trivia (14) | Personal Quotes (7) Overview (3) 5' 7" (1.7 m) Mini Bio (1) Nigella Lawson was born on January 6, 1960 in Wandsworth, London, England as Nigella Lucy Lawson. She is a producer, known for Nigella (2005), Nigella Bites (2000) and Nigella Kitchen (2010). She was previously married to Charles Saatchi and John Diamond .

Spouse (2) (1992 - 2 March 2001) (his death) (2 children) Trivia (14) Her older brother, Dominic Lawson , is married to Rosa Monckton , only daughter of the Viscount and Viscountess Monckton of Brenchley, and a good friend of the late Princess Diana . Voted the 90th worst Briton in Channel Four's poll of the 100 Worst Britons. [May 2003] It was revealed in December 2003 that she declined the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) honor for "her services to journalism and to cookery" in 2001. Her father is former British Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson and her socialite mother Vanessa Salmon. Sister-in-law of Lord Saatchi , Josephine Hart , Christopher Monckton and Rosa Monckton . Her mother's family started the Lyons chain of cafés and manufacturers of tea and coffee. She had her ears pierced when she was 18, but then stopped wearing earrings and let the holes in her ears close up again when she was in her twenties.

She finally had them re-pierced in 2007 when her daughter Cosima had hers pierced. In interviews, she's said that her favorite earrings are big hoops, because of the way wearing them makes her feel. Friend of Art Smith . Gave birth to her 1st child at age 33, a daughter Cosima Thomasina Diamond (aka Cosima Diamond ) in December 1993. Child's father is her now late 1st husband, John Diamond . Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 36, a son Bruno Paul Diamond (aka Bruno Diamond ) in June 1996. Child's father is her now late 1st husband, John Diamond . (March 2, 2001) Her husband of 9 years & father of her 2 children, 7-year-old daughter Cosima & 4-year-old son Bruno, John Diamond died from throat cancer at the age of 47. Her 2nd husband of 9 years Charles Saatchi filed for divorce from her following the scandal over the publication of pictures showing him clutching her by the throat at a London restaurant on June 9.

[July 2013] Presenting her own daytime show, for ITV1, called Nigella (2005). Airs at 1:30pm BST weekdays. [July 2005] She is from a Jewish family (from Latvia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria). Her family's original surname was "Leibson". Personal Quotes (7) I am not a chef. I am not even a trained or professional cook. My qualification is as an eater. Diets are like boyfriends - it never works to go back to them. A [Christmas] stocking without a pomegranate is not worth talking about. I eat healthily. It's just that I eat enough for five healthy people. If you're on TV, you can't be surprised if someone talks about what you look like. I don't want to be the poster girl for anything in particular, but I don't equate thinness with healthiness, so I don't feel I have to defend having flesh on me. It's really, as the French say, everything in moderation - including moderation. People of ten say to me, You don't wear your hair up. You haven't got a net.

I cook for my children. I grew up eating my mother's hair, and I don't see why they can't grow up eating mine. I think a lot of professional chefs have a slightly holy view of women who cook. I don't think you can tell the gender of a person through his or her cooking - except at home, because male home cooks tend to be more show-offy.

See also Chef Nigella Lawson 'ashamed' of drug use, court hears - CNN.com Chef Nigella Lawson 'ashamed' of drug use, court hears By Laura Smith-Spark and Kellie Morgan, CNN updated 12:11 PM EST, Thu December 5, 2013 STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: "People who are regular cocaine users do not look like this," Nigella Lawson says Lawson says she'd rather be honest about her drug use "than be bullied with lies" It was known that the aides' credit cards were not for personal use, Lawson says Italian sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo deny embezzling large sums London (CNN) -- Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson said she was "ashamed" of her drug use but preferred to be honest, as she took the stand for a second day Thursday as a witness in the fraud trial of two former personal assistants. Lawson's first day of testimony Wednesday gripped the media, as she admitted using cocaine in two periods of her life and spoke of her troubled relationship with ex-husband Charles Saatchi, a millionaire art collector.

Quizzed again on the subject Thursday, she said, "I have been frank, and the fact is I would rather be honest, if ashamed, and explain the drug use rather than be bullied with lies about something that happened in a humiliating and very public way." In light of her tribulations, she described 2013 as "the longest year of my life." Nigella Lawson Testifies The former aides, Italian sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo, deny embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds on Saatchi's company credit cards while employed by Lawson and Saatchi. Lawson was also asked again Thursday about her initial reluctance to come to court. The allegations of drug use emerged in June, around the time Lawson and Saatchi were photographed having an argument in a restaurant, Scott's. In the photos, which were splashed across the front pages of national newspapers, Saatchi is seen with his hand around Lawson's throat and appears to pinch and look up her nose. Saatchi accepted a police caution for assault, and the couple announced they would divorce soon afterward.

Lawson told the court the only thing she objected to was the story "that I was taking drugs at Scott's," a reference to an alleged claim by Saatchi that he was wiping cocaine from her nose at the restaurant. Asked why she hadn't sued Saatchi for libel over the claim, Lawson said that she didn't have the money and did not want to go to court because her ex-husband enjoyed litigation. "I do not appreciate being bullied. I am not going to continue to be bullied," she said. Lawson said she felt it was her duty to come to court in this case. "I felt it would be an unpleasant experience, but that's not an excuse not to do one's civic duty." — Nicki Le Masurier (@NickiLeMas) December 5, 2013 Graffiti in Stoke Newington before it was painted over.

Referring to Saatchi's request for her to attend the trial, made in a letter sent by his lawyers, Lawson said Wednesday: "He had said to me if I didn't get back to him and clear his name, he would destroy me." No 'written-down rules' The two defendants, who worked for Lawson and Saatchi for a number of years, were supposed to use the cards for household expenses, but allegedly spent large amounts on themselves . Francesca Grillo's lawyer questioned Lawson on Thursday about exactly what her client was responsible for paying for. Lawson rejected the notion that Francesca had been given free rein to use the credit cards. "There were not written-down rules. ... But it was known that they were not for personal use unless directed," Lawson said. "I don't think any normal person would think that someone else's credit card was for their personal use." Lawson said she disputed "completely" the claim that Francesca had given money to her two children and stepdaughter to pay for lunches, dinners, public transit and excursions amounting to 29,000 pounds in one year. She also hit out at Francesca's lawyer for raising personal details about her children.

Francesca Grillo's lawyer listed a number of purchases of luxury goods made on the company credit card, including 7,000 pounds at Chanel in St. Tropez, which her client said had been approved by Lawson as a treat. Lawson responded, "7000 pounds of designer wardrobe! No, I would not have said that." Asked if she had noticed that her personal assistant wore designer clothing, Lawson said Francesca had always claimed they were knock-offs or bought from a sample sale. 'I did not have a drug problem' Lawson denied defense allegations Thursday that she kept cocaine in a jewelry box, or that rolled-up notes used for snorting drugs were left around her house. "People who are regular cocaine users do not look like this," the TV star said, gesturing to her body and face. Lawson said she was a sole parent who looked after herself. "If you think I am going to sabotage my health and risk leaving my children as orphans, you are very wrong," she said.

Lawson told the court Wednesday that she had used cocaine about six times with her late husband, John Diamond, when he learned that his cancer was terminal, in order to give him "some escape from his treatment." She also used cocaine once in July 2010 when she felt subject to "terrorism" by her then-husband, Saatchi, she said. At that point she felt trapped, isolated and unhappy, she said, and a friend offered her the drug. Lawson also admitted using cannabis but said she has given it up. She said she took the prescription drug Xanax only as instructed by her doctor. Lawson insisted, "I've never been a drug addict, I've never been an habitual user. ... I did not have a drug problem, I had a life problem." Saatchi had claimed in an e-mail that Lawson had used drugs regularly, but in testimony Friday, he backed off that claim.

In the e-mail, which was shared with the court by the defense in a pretrial hearing, Saatchi wrote that the assistants would probably "get off" because Lawson was using cocaine and marijuana on a daily basis and "allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked." Lawson, whose culinary skills and flirtatious manner have long entranced UK audiences, has also appeared as a judge on ABC show "The Taste" in the United States. A second season of the show is due to air in January. The trial is expected to continue Friday. CNN's Claudia Rebaza contributed to this report. Part of complete coverage on BBC NEWS | UK | Nigella Lawson: A sweet and sour life Friday, 18 May, 2001, 16:05 GMT 17:05 UK Nigella Lawson: A sweet and sour life Writer and TV cook Nigella Lawson has the talent, looks and success to attract the envy of millions. But her life has had its fair share of tragedy, and Chris Jones of the BBC's News Profiles Unit tells how Nigella is intent on living in the present. She was once introverted, overweight and insecure.

Now, to the eye of one well-known journalist, "she has creamy, perfect skin, lustrous hair, a beauty queen's figure and dazzlingly white teeth". Another interviewer declared her to be "stunningly beautiful, warm, honest, likeable and amazingly normal". And both observations were made by women. Ten weeks after the death of her husband, John Diamond, whose wry observations on his four-year battle against cancer were chronicled in his column in The Times, Nigella Lawson is chalking up another entry on her superwoman CV. Out on the town with husband John Diamond Another series of her Channel 4 food programme, Nigella Bites, has begun. And the series, being filmed at her home in west London, has also been bought by American television. At John Diamond's funeral, his last words to his wife were read to the congregation by Nigella's brother, the editor of The Sunday Telegraph, Dominic Lawson: "How proud I am of you and what you have become." Nigella began with considerable advantages. Her father is the former Conservative chancellor, Nigel Lawson, and her mother was Vanessa Salmon, beautiful socialite and heiress to the Lyons Corner House empire.

Neither of which made Nigella a star pupil at school. Between the ages of nine and 18, she was moved five times: "I was just difficult, disruptive, good at school work, but rude, I suspect, and too highly-strung." She failed her 11-plus by refusing to take a maths paper: "I put my hand up, gave it back and said 'I'm sorry, I don't do this'." When she did eventually secure a place at Oxford, her pleasure was tempered by the break-up of her parents' marriage. A rare moment to relax Among the dreaming spires, she developed a left-leaning political slant, but preferred chow to Mao. "Food is a narcotic", she says. While she resented her first name, chosen by her father, his impeccable connections later helped to smooth her way. Nigella began a restaurant column in The Spectator in 1985 and by the following year had become deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times, where she met John Diamond. They married three years later in Venice. Diamond opened her eyes to her full potential. He supervised her "makeover", persuading her to wear more glamorous clothes and make-up.

And he suggested she should write a cookery book, coming up with a title of classic simplicity, How to Eat. Nigella went from strength to strength, with a second, award-winning book, How to be a Domestic Goddess, a social affairs column in The Observer, another on make-up in The Times, and her TV appearances, particularly on cookery programmes, that stimulate many a male appetite. With Lloyd Grossman on Masterchef But an unwelcome companion, cancer, continued to shadow her progress. Her mother was in her 40s when she died of cancer of the liver and her sister, Thomasina, was in her 30s when she was killed by breast cancer in 1993. Neither loss dulled the shock of the discovery of John Diamond's cancer four years later, or prepared Nigella Lawson for his death. Cooking and eating has always been a refuge for her during times of stress and she says one reason women like her is because she is not thin. Now 40, with children Cosima, seven, and four-year-old Bruno, she has put on 6lb since filming for her latest TV series began but is "too much of a slattern" to do anything about it.

It is no secret that her home is not a testament of tidiness to a domestic goddess: "I go round in trainers and horrible clothes without make-up and without brushing my hair." Savouring the happy times Nor can she become too energised by complaints that her flapjacks are difficult to remove from the baking tin, or newspaper gossip about her friendship with the advertising guru, Charles Saatchi, who was a close friend of her husband. The brightest light and darkest shade of Nigella Lawson's life has taught her to make the most of her many talents and the wisest modus operandi for living: "I suppose I do think that awful things can happen at any moment, so while they are not happening you may as well be pleased." Nigella Lawson admits taking cocaine - BBC News BBC News Nigella Lawson admits taking cocaine 4 December 2013 Close share panel Media captionThe BBC's Luisa Baldini was inside court when Ms Lawson admitted taking cocaine TV cook Nigella Lawson has admitted taking cocaine, but denies having a drug problem or being an addict. She said she had first taken the drug with her late husband John Diamond when he was terminally ill.

Ms Lawson said she had taken it again in July 2010, after she felt she had been "subjected to intimate terrorism" by her ex-husband, Charles Saatchi. She made the admission at the trial at Isleworth Crown Court of her former assistants, who deny fraud. Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo's defence claims Ms Lawson allowed them spend on credit cards in return for covering up her drug use. Ms Lawson, 53, said she took cocaine with Mr Diamond on six occasions, after he found out his cancer was terminal. "It gave him some escape," she said. She said she had responsibility for looking after him and the family as well as earning a living - and that she had spoken to a doctor at the time. Image caption Nigella Lawson said she was not a "habitual drug user" She went on: "There was another time I took cocaine. In July 2010 I was having a very, very difficult time. "I felt subjected to intimate terrorism by Mr Saatchi," she said, adding that she felt "isolated and in fear of... just unhappy". "A friend of mine offered me some cocaine, I took it," she said.

Ms Lawson added it "completely spooked" her. "The idea that I am a drug addict, or habitual user of cocaine is absolutely ridiculous." 'Grabbed by the throat' Ms Lawson said Mr Saatchi "told everyone" he was taking cocaine out of her nose after he was photographed holding her neck at Scotts restaurant. She claimed the incident was actually sparked when she commented on a person walking past with a baby. "I said 'I'm so looking forward to having grandchildren'." "He grabbed me by the throat and said 'I'm the only person you should be concerned with'." Image caption Elisabetta (left) and Francesca Grillo both deny fraud Ms Lawson told the court she smoked cannabis in the last year of her marriage to Mr Saatchi. "I found it made an intolerable situation tolerable. It's a false friend and not a good idea. "I have to say, since freeing myself from a brilliant but brutal man, I'm now totally cannabis, cocaine, any drug-free." She said she did not know how to roll a cannabis joint but had asked others in her house to do so. "This was not behaviour I'm proud of," she added.

Mr Saatchi was unaware that she was smoking cannabis, she told jurors, before admitting that she had not told him that she had taken cocaine once during their marriage. "It was a one-off," she said. "I felt by going to my GP I didn't feel a need to tell him." Ms Lawson said Elisabetta was aware she had taken cocaine in the past, but said claims that credit cards and envelopes containing white powder were left around the home she shared with Mr Diamond were "completely false". She admitted that Mr Diamond used rolled-up notes to take the drug. "John did but he carefully ironed them out," she said. "There is some misery you cannot escape." Ms Lawson said she was not a "habitual drug user and drug addict, or a snorter of cocaine for 10 years".

Asked by Anthony Metzer QC, representing the Grillo sisters, where the drug claims may have come from, Ms Lawson replied: "I believe some of it came from your clients and Mr Saatchi - not the three most reliable witnesses." 'Witch hunt' Ms Lawson said she believed Mr Saatchi was on a campaign to "ruin me in any way", whether financial or otherwise, and had a mindset of "get her, I don't care what it takes". Image caption Charles Saatchi sent an email to Ms Lawson claiming she had taken drugs "I think he likes everyone to do what he wants," she said. Ms Lawson said there was a "witch hunt" against her and that she felt like she was on trial with no counsel and "no rights". Earlier in the trial, jurors were read an email to Ms Lawson from her former husband in which he alleged that she had taken drugs. In response, she described the allegations as being "part of his plan of attack". She said she had hidden any drug use from Mr Saatchi, adding: "I could have weathered a conversation about it, I just wouldn't have wanted to." Ms Lawson is to return to court on Thursday to complete her evidence. The case continues.

How Charles Saatchi wooed Nigella Lawson before her husband died of cancer | Daily Mail Online Savoy suites booked under a pseudonym, smuggling a kitten into a hotel and expensive shopping trips: How Saatchi wooed Nigella before her husband died of cancer Charles Saatchi booked Savoy suite six months before John Diamond died Room was booked under Saatchi’s pseudonym Nightingale or Green Mr Saatchi later stayed at the Berkeley - and she sneaked in her kitten Team Nigella deny claims she was dating Saatchi before husband died Nigella's first husband John Diamond died in March 2001 Saatchi also claimed they started seeing each other before Diamond died

Question: Who was the first husband of Nigella Lawson?
Answer: John Diamond